Easy Low Carb Roasted Turkey & Gluten Free Gravy Recipe

A couple of years ago I posted this Easy Sage Roasted Turkey Recipe, which was the first time I’d experimented with roasting a turkey upside down and at high temps for shorter times. I’ve been doing it that way ever since, because the meat cooks more evenly and retains more moisture then when I roast it breast up for long periods of time.

I usually stuff fistfuls of compound butter under the skin before roasting, but I was inspired by a turkey recipe I found on Pinterest to try replacing the butter with mayonnaise instead. I wanted lots of flavor, so I incorporated a little dijon mustard and a handful of chopped rosemary into it as well. The end result was super tender and very flavorful – making this my new favorite turkey recipe hands down.

Mr. Hungry and I wanted to try roasting the turkey in our wood-fired oven this year, and it worked great. You don’t need a wood-fired oven to make this recipe though, just make it in your regular oven at the designated temperatures in the recipe below.

The first step is to cut up your aromatics and arrange them in your roasting pan. This will be the foundation of your pan gravy – and these flavors together are amazing!

Next you’ll want to prep your turkey by removing all of the innards. Then make your mayonnaise mixture and stuff it under the skin, inside the cavity, and all over the outside. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and pepper, then place on top of your aromatics breast side down – preferably on a roasting rack (more on this later.)

Roast the turkey for 2 hours upside down at 450 degrees (F).

Remove the turkey from the oven and carefully turn over in the pan so it’s breast side up. Lower the heat to 400 degrees and roast for one more hour – longer if your turkey is bigger than 16 – 18 lbs.

This is where the wheels fell off for me – because I didn’t use the roasting rack, and I wasn’t careful about making sure the skin didn’t come in contact with the pan, it stuck and tore off when I turned it over.

Still delicious, but not nearly as pretty as when it’s intact. If something like this happens to you, simply carve some of the breast meat off and arrange it nicely on a platter before serving and your guests will never know there was an issue. I won’t tell if you don’t.

Now let’s talk about this gravy. It’s tangy, herby, and just the slightest bit sweet from the apples – the perfect complement to this delicious turkey! Making it couldn’t be easier – just remove your bird from the pan, then remove the lemon halves, and blend everything left in the pan with a blender.

No need to add thickeners to it (or anything else unless you want to adjust for salt and pepper after tasting) because it’s already thick and creamy. This was one of the best gravies I’ve ever had, and there was a ton of it. You can freeze it for use later with roasted chicken or even to flavor soups with.

I can’t say enough how much I loved the results of this experiment! Even with the torn breast skin, this was the tenderest white meat I’ve ever had on a turkey. It was really perfect and had no mayonnaise flavor at all. I hope that you’ll give this method a try and report back!

Ingredients

For the pan gravy:

For the mayonnaise:

3/4 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp ground sage powder

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

2 Tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (F). Place the pan gravy ingredients in the bottom of your roasting pan, and season liberally with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Place your rack (if you have one) in the pan. Remove any innards from your turkey and rinse out the cavity. Combine all of the mayonnaise ingredients together in a medium bowl and stir well. Carefully separate the skin from the meat of the bird and rub generously under the skin with the mayo mixture. Then rub the mixture over the outside of the bird and inside the cavity until it’s all used. Carefully place your bird breast side down on the rack (if you don’t have a rack, place it on the aromatics and be sure the breast isn’t touching the pan.) Sprinkle generously with more kosher salt and black pepper.

Roast in the bottom rack of your oven for 2 hours (at 450 degrees.) After two hours, remove the turkey and turn the oven down to 400 degrees. Carefully turn your turkey over so it’s breast side up. Roast at 400 degrees for 1 hour (a larger bird will take longer) or until a meat thermometer reads 165 at the thickest part of the thigh (it will continue to cook while resting.) Remove and rest loosely under foil for at least 20 – 30 minutes before carving. While the turkey is resting, remove the lemons from the pan and discard. Pour the rest of the pan drippings into a blender and blend until smooth. Season the gravy with salt and pepper as desired. Serve warm with the turkey.

Notes

For the nutrition info, I’m giving you an approximate for 4 oz of either dark or white meat. The gravy is hard to calculate calories and fat for because some of the fat from the bird goes into it and it’s impossible for me to tell how much. I am giving you the carbs per serving of gravy because it’s the only thing I can calculate with any accuracy.

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Oh my GOODNESS! This was soo good and moist. I took it out after two hours to turn it over but it was done already . It was a 13 pound turkey and the meat was falling off the bones. Unfortunately it wasn’t browned like the other side, but it was so good it didn’t matter. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes. They make eating this way so much easier.

This recipe post saved our Thanksgiving Turkey. We had a huge turkey (20 pounds) and only a few hours to cook it in. We followed your instructions and it turned out perfect. Moist and delicious. One of the best roast turkeys I’ve ever eaten. Thank you!!!!

Ok, reporting back on the turkey and gravy. It was marvelous! The turkey was moist and delicious, and the gravy was delicious! You really couldn’t tell the apples were in there. Everyone raved about it. Thank you, Mellissa, for a great recipe and such a great blog.

What a great turkey roasting technique. I had a 12-pounder, so I tweaked the time. But roasting it this way was amazingly easy, including turning it mid-way! And it was done an hour earlier than I expected. :)

Thanks for reporting back Jacque, so glad you liked it! I love how fast it is too – so much less intimidating than having to get up at 4am like my mom used to do in order to have a bird ready to eat by 2pm! And usually by then it was totally dried out anyway!

This looks amazing! Gonna show it to my husband – see if he’s willing to experiment for our Thanksgiving on Friday. (If not, which might be, as we’ll have guests, we’ll definitely do it another time soon!)

Yes Cheryl, you blend everything together but you’ll find that the apples lend only the slightest sweetness as they are offset by the savory turkey drippings, lemon, onion and herbs. The result is perfectly balanced between sweet, tangy, salty, and creamy. So much liquid is added from the cooking turkey that the pureed apple and onions give it just enough body without being too thick. Let me know how it goes over if you try it!!!

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My name is Mellissa Sevigny, and I use my culinary powers for good here at IBIH by creating delicious and satisfying low carb & keto recipes. If you’re looking to lose weight, feel amazing, AND eat some of the best food you’ve ever tasted – you’ve come to the right place. Welcome! Dig deeper →